The present disclosure relates generally to communication between devices and in particular, to a method of providing a user transparent registration process for secure communication between two devices.
Hands-free systems that allow a driver of a vehicle to initiate and/or to receive cellular telephone calls by interacting with a vehicle interface are available in some newer vehicle models. The cellular telephone may be the driver's personal cellular telephone and not a cellular telephone only available to the driver when the driver is in the vehicle. Once communication is established between the vehicle and the cellular telephone, the driver of the vehicle can carry on a conversation with the other party using speakers and microphones located in the vehicle. The communication link between the vehicle and the cellular telephone is based on the bluetooth wireless standard and specification that manufacturers can build into their products. The bluetooth link allows the driver to use a speaker and microphone located in the vehicle to initiate or receive telephone calls to/from the driver's personal cellular telephone. The communication link between the cellular telephone and the telephone service provider occur in the same manner as if the driver was speaking directly into the personal cellular telephone.
From a security perspective, bluetooth provides two different modes of operation: secure mode and non-secure mode. The secure mode requires a registration process to take place prior to any communication. The registration process produces a shared secret encryption code that is stored in each device involved in the communication (e.g., a cellular telephone and a vehicle). The devices then use the shared secret encryption code as an encryption key to encrypt messages sent between the devices. The non-secure mode of operation does not require any registration to take place and hence does not provide any level of security. Bluetooth provides a wireless link which operates over public channels. Therefore, a hacker could listen to the channel, and if a message is not encrypted, the hacker could understand the content of the message.
Many people utilizing a hands-free system for communicating via their personal cellular telephones want to ensure that their conversations remain private and secure. If a user requires privacy and/or security a registration process should take place between the vehicle and the cellular telephone.
The current registration process is performed manually. The driver enters special codes into the cellular telephone and the vehicle to establish the shared secret encryption code. This is a tedious process and may not be easy for a user who is not a computer expert to perform. In addition, manual registration requires the vehicle to be equipped with a user interface in order for the user to enter the required code into the vehicle. Further, every time that the user uses a different vehicle (rental car, spouse vehicle, etc.) or has a new cellular telephone, the user has to perform the registration process.